HistoryBuff

I say "Almost SR2" because though it has the brushed metal side coves (with simulated scoops) two plexiglass driver and passenger wrap around racing windscreens, it has regular steel wheels with hubcaps, regular production nose grille cavity and was called the SS(not to be confused with the $3 million SS Sebring race car of '57).
I heard a rumor once that the white SS show car was stolen. I was wondering if first that was true, and if it was recovered , if anyone can remember if it was ever advertised for sale before the modern 21st century?

Here's the only picture I could find of it on a magazine cover
http://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototypes/ss_showcar/

The rear shot shown here on a Dutch site looks like stock rear except for the stripe.
http://www.corvettes.nl/gm_prototype...es/page1_2.jpg

A website

http://corvette-concepts.tripod.com/id32.html

says it was shown in Chicago in February of 1957. That site doesn't say it was stolen, but instead they say it was
"wrecked in the left front many years ago. Fortunately, the car still has all of it's unique parts and features. It is in private hands and it's being restored in original condition." Can anyone please direct me to the webiste or magazine that has the story?

Vette Daddy

This car is now restored residing in FL. A friend of mine owns it but is very private.

66racer

A corvette friend of mine here in New Mexico saw this corvette in Albuquerque and told me about it. This was about 25 years ago. The owner bought it off a used car dealer there. And his son wrecked it. He saw it after the wreck. The owner let him see the car but would not sell it and no pics, I just called him tonight and he remembers all the details about it.He called about it years later and it was sold .P.M. me and can give you his cell # if you want it. Thanks 66racer

DZAUTO

The car you are referring to is the 1957 Corvette Super Sport------------------it is NOT the SS.
The SS and the Super Sport are two TOTALLY DIFFERENT CARS.
The SS was SPECIFICALLY built as a race car.
The Super Sport was built as a concept show car. It was very badly damaged in a wreck, sat for MANY years, but has now been restored to its 57 configuration. Unfortunately, there has been a major legal conflict which has kept it tied up and as of now, i do not know if there has been a final legal decision made as to who is the legal owner.

This is the SS.



This is the Super Sport (in 1957).


All 4 SR2 cars are known and are alive and well.

HistoryBuff

Whereas before with only front 3/4 and rear 3/4 shots it looked pretty stock except for the side coves, twin windscreens and stripe, now I realize it had an SR-2 show car interior. So to me that means it spent more time in Styling being modified, and thus there may be more paper work on the car than if it was just a "one week" wonder. I wonder if the entire front was damaged in the crash or only one fender but they took the whole front end off to restore it. It is too bad there is a legal issue clouding the car now, I hope that gets resolved, it must be difficult with almost 50 years having passed.My interest is just in the car's early days, how it got from Michigan to New Mexico, I am predicting a GM employee bought it. Sometimes those show cars go up for bid among employees first and only later reach the general public.

PS At the Henry Ford Museum there is an archive where you can look up interenal Ford correspondence, I wonder if GM has anything similar where you can go look up company memos from the Fifties or Sixties?

TCracingCA

Whoever is doing that assembly did miss the Duntov Wide Body Racer which was a GM Prototype and then there are a few others. But accumulating all of this is cool!

DZAUTO

The whole frontend was torn up all the way back into the cowl. Also, the frame was bashed and mangled all to heck! It was very badly damaged. I'm sure that originally, it was considered a total loss.

HistoryBuff

I agree with the poster about the damage--back when '57s were rolling off the line one hit that hard would be scrapped. I was assuming the front body panels were off for repair, not complete replacement. However, all is not lost the front fenders, grille, hood look mostly stock so it's not like they have to recreate from photographs. I think if most of the frame is still used in the restoration, it's still considered an original and not a re-creation. Over in some other car models like Lola T70, it really gets me nervous when they say "re-tubbed," i.e. moving the SN plate over to a replacement chassis. I have since done a bit more research--the floor panel was unique, maybe the aluminum grid work Mitchell liked, there was a metal "glass" with it, like Harley Earl had in the Cad Eldorado Brougham (maybe when it was OK to drink and drive), some of the other metal bits were unique to this car though they might have been on the SR-2 cars. It was shown in Chicago and the New York Motorama. One question that comes to mind is--why did GM get rid of it? I think the '58 Corvette was coming out and they didn't want a reminder of the '57 around plus management had come down on all fours to quash any hopes of a factory race team continuing so it had to go. Oh, and somewhere on some forum it says it and a donor car were sold together, or maybe I have it backwards, maybe the donor car was later sold off and only the wrecked Super Sport remains in the owner's hands.

On this site, some restoration shop owner has color of it but the background is so dark I can't tell if it's the original car before its smash up or if it is the replica he is talking about building.

http://home.comcast.net/~richmz/site...vette_Project/

Another picture shows it at the Chicago Auto Show. Does the grille and headlight chrome rims look stock to you '56 & '57 guys?


http://www.chicagoautoshow.com/conce...e-super-sport/

62Jeff

Here is an older thread on this same car, with pictures.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c1-a...per-sport.html

Pictures included here for convenience

HistoryBuff

I haven't seen an underhood picture of it when it was at the Chicago Auto Show or Motorama in NY but maybe the FI buffs on the Forum will know if it was fitted experimentally on this car for the show. Also I know on race Corvettes there was a different fuel injection system (two pumps or something?) so it would be interesting to know if this was a stock FI system or not. I don't know if the car went to NM with the FI on it if it was FI.

I heard more about the car crash where the teenager hit the light pole with it, that he might have been the lot boy at the dealership, but I thought the car was sold intact by the used car dealer and then smashed but maybe the used car dealership sold it smashed as a project car.

toms silver 60

[QUOTE=
This car is now restored residing in FL. A friend of mine owns it but is very private.[/QUOTE]

That sounds a lot like Sebring Bill. Particularly the very private part!

63Corvette

I learn more on this Forum by accident, than I learn on Google....on purpose

Vette Daddy

Nope, not Bill....